South Island 2 with the Lloyd Gents.

That's clearly Jonny, not Joey or Phil!!

Travels with the Lloyd Brothers Part 2

Yay for holidays! - Phil and I set off for South Island to join Matt and Hugo. We had a lush journey from Christchurch by coach to Queenstown, stopping off at Lake Tekapo (and seeing the incredible view from the Church of the Good Shepherd) and then Lake Punakaiki (for the picture postcard view of Mt Cook (Aoraki)).

In Queenstown we planned the crazy adventures we wanted to enjoy – settling on river surfing down the Kawarau River on boogie boards. Before that we joined an outdoor Good Friday service in town.

River surfing - what a loony thing to do! Get kitted up in wetsuits, helmets and flippers and then drift down a freezing cold South Island river….heading straight alongside sheer, gorge walls and then directly into rapids and standing waves…but there was a certain sense of exploration in the journey we took, and we certainly saw some wonderful scenery, including the exact spot where Frodo canoes through the Pillar of the Kings in LOTR. We had great fun trying to ride a series of standing waves…..Matt seemed to have a natural affinity for this, looking like a happy duck on top, whilst his flippers were going mad beneath the surface.

The next day we were so excited to discover that a Super 14 Rugby game was being played so we delayed the start of our tramp to join the crowds of spectators coming down off the sheep stations to watch! We became avid Highlanders supporters for the afternoon (Phil even donning the Highlander cape!) even when they lost to the Waikato Chiefs (boo hiss). I’ve been to a few top level rugby games in my time (!), but this eclipsed them all…..not so much the rugby but the atmosphere and the surroundings…..I have many happy memories of that afternoon singing “Go oh Highlanders….rugby is my game….welcome to the House of Pain”….whilst marvelling at the Remarkables (mountains) creating a bowl around the stadium of grassy banks in which we were sitting.

And so after the rugby we jumped into a cab and headed up the Glenorchy valley to join the start of the Routeburn track. We only had about 1.5 hours of light left and about 12km to walk uphill…..but that was ok, we had Chief of the Defence Staff Huge Hugo with us who can see his way in any situation. So despite the enormity of the challenge ahead of us, we were undeterred. Packs on, up we went, and up and up….into the dark dark forests….

Day 2 on the Routeburn Track was as stunning a day as you could have…..Easter Day too…on the way up up again we found a great place to have a freezing cold dip…..Hugo had more than he bargained for in the dip….he he! At the top in true Daddy Lloyd tradition we had an Easter Egg hunt! Yay….Phil stepped in as the Easter bunny so that all 3 Lloyds could get fully competitive in their quest for the most chocolate. And we discovered again just like when we were little, that Jo always finds the most eggs…..and Hugo always gets the biggest hump. Sorry Huge! At the overnight hut, we had a great fun, all-embracing game of cricket. Lots of new talent to the game of cricket….so we had plenty of opportunity to send Matt swimming in the freezing lake to collect the ball.

Last day was a nice downhill and we set M&H the challenge of hitching a ride to Milford Sound before we could hitch a ride to Te Anau to collect the car. They won…BUT we’re not sure that they told their driver exactly how far they wanted to go…..go on confess it Matt.

Next stop was Wanaka. We did some crazeeee mountain biking down some pretty steep dry forest tracks….Matt and Hugo enjoyed the Love Tunnel !…and everyone (apart from me) did a lot of racing…I was not up to my usual Woodhill Forest standard…:(

Then onto Christchurch and a lovely night was spent with Matt, Kelly and Barnaby Maude (friends of Matt’s from Africa days). We so enjoyed catching up with them….and hearing about South Island life.

After saying very sad goodbyes to M&H (yuck, hate goodbyes)…Phil and I drove to check out Mt Sunday….famous as the site of Rohan in LOTR. It is a remote South Island sheep station…..and wow was it a bumpy journey there. Check out the photos here to see how worthwhile the views were though….quintessential NZ.

Don't forget to click on each photo to see it in larger size!